Chapter 37:

Chapter 37: Work grants one more work to do.



Whoever said good work ethic is rewarded forgot to say that the reward is more work. All those that work hard for a living know this, but there is a difference between work you had no choice in taking upon yourself and work you took upon yourself like an idiot.

I just needed to know which was which with my siblings for they gave themselves more work for nothing.

"Our plans keep changing Bessar." Guraith said.

I had just asked why did they get married to 9 women and the three of them had the decency of looking ashamed before giving me that answer. I do not blame my siblings for taking wives but I am quite insistent in knowing why because unlike myself they had no excuse of Time Walker shenanigans for they would have claimed as such if that was the case but they didn't.

"That they do, for plans change when needed, but marriage is incredibly time consuming and we don't have much time as it is." I replied evenly.

We stood in our conference room, the decently sized white room we decided to keep our overt plotting in. We stood on a white bed and sheets we've made a tradition to meet and discuss on and did so for it reminds us of the stories we've read of the old Towers of Hoeth and the Orphanage. It was not the same as our home but it was close but anything was better than nothing

I was not laughing or being judgmental for I did not hold their actions against them for we are orphans and all orphans wish for families to love them. No I was something far worse than judgmental for I was morbidly curious to know how did this happen.

Marriage is time consuming when it's just one individual you have to look after, I have two of them, and my siblings now have 9. In what universe this saved them time I do not know, for whatever time they've saved by uniting the disparate Siren confederacies by marriage they've lost 10 times over by needing to look over 9 women and soon those women will be pregnant.

"We were tricked by your wives to present ourselves as too open to marriage and by the time we realized it, it was either this or risking conflict between the sirens." Marsa spoke evenly.

I considered her words and they rummaged throughout my head as I considered them and their implications. I was amused by the implications my mind came up and proceeded to share them with my younger siblings.

"Your wives fooled you as well, and you'll have to deal with 9 women that very much wanted this arrangement and are eager to engage in teamwork to get their way with you." I slyly told them.

Judging by the look of horror on their faces they realized the meaning of my words, for it's one thing to have 9 spouses, quite another when they've plotted together to make it so and are not scared of doing again in the future. One requires you to fight and trick 9 disparate factions, the other a grand coalition that outnumbers you 3-to-1 and my siblings did not even know it before I told them.

'Absolutely hilarious and something they have done to themselves.' I thought to myself as I tried to hide my laughter from them.

My opinion on the matter was simple, I am happy for my siblings, I am happy that my family grows and greatly amused at them for being tricked like this, but I am also annoyed because marital bliss requires work and time and we have little of it.

"We may have erred more than we thought." Aesan sang.

They did not sound at all ashamed of themselves and I was proud of them for it, for one should never be ashamed of their family and the actions they did for them, even if said actions were done to them.

"It's your problem to deal with then, just make sure to keep the baby making reasonable." I said with amusement.

I'll soon have to worry about that nonsense myself but I did not have to deal with as much nonsense as they have heaped upon themselves.

They looked paler than normal as they realized what awaits them, and I did not bother to hide my laughter this time. They joined me after a brief attempt at pretending to be irritated.

What people don't think with multiple wives is that each wants plenty of children and giving them each multiple children is time consuming and in their situation a single generation will grant them 9 or 10 of them, but that's not my problem to deal with, for it is theirs.

We stopped laughing shortly after for we had plotting to do.

"Leaving aside the logistical issues of building our families, how goes the logistics of building ourselves a fortress?" I asked, all traces of mirth gone.

The fun had come and gone, we now needed to plot and scheme the death of a world.

"The sirens continue consolidating and rampaging as planned and we estimate all of the sirens that wish to join up will be here in 5 years at most. Once we have gathered all that wish to come we will hopefully have finished up the designs for the Plasma Detonators and cause the glaciers to the north to move and crash into the princedoms, cities, smaller settlements and realms left there." Aesan sang.

Things are moving faster than anticipated it seems.

"I have killed the cultist prince to the north, he's the reason I was so wounded when I arrived, we need to head there and flay the souls of some cultists to have a basic idea of what's going on in there." I replied.

"Do we have any nephews that can create an Orphanage for us to coordinate with the others?" Marsa asked.

It was an important thing to have done and one of the three missions I was to take upon myself.

"One I was able to find, he has built 3 of them in his city, and I've used them up, the Older Brothers and Older Sisters wish to organize a Conclave and turn this world into a White Tower." I revealed with a grimace.

The silence was deafening and lasted for more heartbeats then it should have been comfortable.

I had told them of the fact that we were to fortify this world and not just leave with out loot in my letter to them. I had contacted my fellow Older Sisters and Older Brothers as I left the city and they told me this.

"Are they mad?" Guraith asked what we all thought.

I thought the same as well but did not voice it. Fortifying the location to survive a tantrum and a kick is one thing, we didn't know if we could do it right, but we had been told enough to try and this world was made for it. Making a base of operations for the Followers of Hoeth, a White Tower is another thing entirely.

"No, it is necessary." Aesan spoke and looked confused at his own words

We looked at him for he spoke without thinking and that meant his future selves were screaming at him to say it.

'They could scream at us why we need to do it.' I thought in irritation.

White Towers are different than Orphanages dedicated to Hoeth or Cegorach. They are temple-fortresses whose purpose is to allow us to project force in a given area and there used to be plenty of them and all of them burned.

There used to be thousands of them across the Empire of Ten Million Suns and 30 outside of it in the Great Wheel and 1 outside of the Great Wheel. All of them died across the years with the last 5 dying to farseers and while some we have destroyed ourselves to allow us to pretend to be dead the vast majority were killed off because a White Tower is more than just a location we claim belongs to a god, it's holy ground dedicated to Hoeth and few people like Dead Divines setting up shop and thus a valid target to shenanigans.

It doesn't help that while we're on the outer part of the Empire, we are not at the outskirts where it would make the most sense to do so at.

"I have told them I have no clue how to do it and that we refuse to do it. If they want to do it they can do so when we gather the conclave. I will not budge on this, we do not have the means to both fortify this planet and consecrate it as I cannot even guarantee we'll manage fortifying it." I told my siblings.

This is the first time I've been against the advice of my fellow Older Brothers and Older Sisters and even against Aesan's future selves, but I knew my limits and making a White Tower was beyond me, so if they want one they'll make it themselves as we can meet here without one.

"We'll handle that later then, what about the skin walkers?" Marsa asked.

Ah, them. They were my issue to deal with now and they were almost more trouble than they were worth but they deserve the headaches they're causing me.

"They are a trash species, that somehow survived what they shouldn't have and have agreed to become a vassal species." I replied.

The Skin Walkers are the native species of this world that had evolved here before the Followers of Hoeth decided we needed this planet more than them and so moved it into the Empire and allowed the Eldar to colonize it. Somehow the bronze age natives survived for one million years of existence on the same world as Eldar that wanted them dead, which is an impressive achievement but the race in question isn't very impressive now.

They require muddy or swampy terrain to live in which will soon be in very short supply, their shape-shifting abilities are barely worth mentioning, their psychic potential is low, their lifespan is low and whatever technological prowess they might have once had they had lost as now they rely on Eldar for tools.

All in all their tenacity is the only thing worthy of praise about them and the rest is just one disappointment after another, but they are loyal and have agreed to be vassals so they'll continue to live and serve.

"What can we use them for?" Guraith asked.

"Right now? Nothing worth much, as they would die in a direct confrontation to just about anything and they have no special talents we can use, but once we leave this world and teach them how to make or at the very least operate technology they will be a decent starting point for some of our plans. The only possible use for them right now is as a body to hold a ranged weapon and shoot it and even for that they are too few to make a difference and not worth the space and food they're taking."

It would be easier to kill them all, but such is not our way for, they've served loyally and as long as they continue to do so they will live and we will find a use for them.

The Skin Walkers had an important role in the siren societies that held them, for they were farmers that could farm and fish in swamps the sirens found too bothersome to exist in and could serve as assassins by throwing the lives for five or more skilled warriors to kill one eldar and thus prevent sirens from dying. If the Maton found them they were dead either way but if they survived, succeeded and returned then they would be heroes of their people and honored by both Skin Walker and Siren for it.

They can't do any of that anymore, food is covered by synthesizers and now Sirens don't need to rely on trickery and ambushes to kill Eldar for the Maton no longer protect them from their operations as long as they wear the holo-fields we gave them and unfortunately for them Siren society does not tolerate things without a purpose. Their mentality is that if you can't find a way to be useful you will be turned into fish food to not waste food on you and I did not wish to take that mentality away from them because I needed it.

So their options were simple, put themselves under my protection or continue hoping my wife will be able to keep them alive as the rest of Siren society starts wondering why they should be feeding freeloaders.

"We are not killing them." The three said as one for they were one.

"We aren't, and I've already managed to get them to be my vassals and my problem as opposed to the Sirens. I've already pretended to be one to get at my wives for their trickery and started rumors that I am one, so me taking them under my wing I can argue is a reward for helping me trick my wives and as helpers for some of the dirty work I need to do." I said evenly.

They nodded at this, for while the sirens may abhor waste and useless things, we abhorred disloyalty and to kill them or let them be killed would have been abhorrent to us. They've been loyal and continue to be loyal to their noble ladies and that means more than most realize.

"How does the local fortification effort go? Any delays?" I asked, for this was the only important thing right now.

We could not fortify the future seat of Siren power but the sea the Sirens had take to call 'Siren's Refuge' will be where we hold our Conclave and where the White Tower will be built once the Conclave concludes.

"Poorly, we have not been able to find a single Siren with the appropriate combination of souls or blessings to learn your craft Bessar, we only have Seers on their way to becoming Eyes of Lileath." Guraith said with a grimace.

"The gods do not want us to kill off the entire local population then, because I was able to find 16 individuals that can learn to make my tools and two whose souls were purposefully made to be experts at using them in combat. I have arranged for my students to come to us once we started the flood." I observed.

Cippani Oiair's apprenticeship continues to pay dividends for it is thanks to us teaching him that we've managed to find way to accelerate our teaching speed by knowing the easiest paths to take when doing so and also simplifying the language we used so that it makes the teaching of students less counter-intuitive.

Divine meddling also continues to be an annoyance even from our allies but we can work with that, for the goals of the Divine and ours are aligned on this even if they enjoy tipping the scales towards the outcome they want.

"We have to take it, especially as we have no protection from such." Aeasan sang.

We had no other choice but to do so, for without Hoeth and Cegorach lacking standing we were now subordinate to all of the Divines except Slaanesh for she has not been born yet.

"That we do, now how does the Siren Rampage go?" I asked.

I truly hoped that was going well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Forward forward forwards!" I shouted in both voice and song.

For the first time in as long as the song-keepers can remember we had hope, hope for a new queen has been crowned and our people will be united and mighty!

The warriors of 30 tribes have all united into a single force and for a single purpose, to guide our people to a home that is safe.

We now traveled north-east through various small Eldar settlements and drowned them in giant waves called forth by the Tide callers in the search for a home.

" 'Swift Flow.' the young and the mothers with babes cannot keep up." My second 'Mighty Blow' sang.

I am 'Swift Flow' and I am the leader of the largest coalition of Warriors our people have ever seen in these waters as 20.000 warriors protected the migration of 345.000 Sirens.

"Have mothers switch holding the babes and the too young with their daughters to help keep up, we cannot slow down, the rear-guard are keeping the Eldar at bay and from hitting the civilians while the Tidecallers are cleaning the front, if we slow down either the Eldar will catch us or the Eldar settlements will be able to mount a defense!" I sang back.

The gifts from the new queen of our people allowed us to be ignored by the Maton which have been the greatest monsters that had hunted us down, but now they let us be and the Eldar suffer from it.

We continued to swim against the natural flow of rivers and used them as ammo to throw at cities.

"Cut!" A vanguard sang from the front.

A giant blade cut the wave we used to travel in two and it was only thanks to the warning that we didn't lose that many people. The Eldar man that did said cut had killed at least 100 of us and died to just as many sirens shooting at him with shuriken pistols and rifles.

"We can rest when we reach the sea! Push forward and we'll make a temporary dwelling once we're far away from the rivers and the land and can reach the depths, until then go Forwards!" I sang to my people.

No complaint greeted me back, only affirmations for they knew what was at stake. We were down to the last 3 Holo-fields, for the Eldar had learned to spot them and kill their bearers and when the last of them died we will be helpless to the hundreds of Matons waiting to kill us and that which we cannot kill.

We started this journey with 8 spread around the clans and tribes and we were still two seas away from safety.

"Filthy Cultist Trash." My wife sang to me.

She was the last tide caller of our tribe, for the others have died trying to guarantee our passage and we now had to rely on those of other tribes mainly but it mattered not for we will succeed.

"I know my love, I mourn our sons and daughters as well." I said.

We now passed over the settlement that the blademaster tried to save and drowned it in less than a heartbeat.

We had lost children and parents and uncles, aunts and nieces and nephews, everyone did but it mattered not for now. All that mattered was the promise that the survivors will have a safe home for the new Queen has delivered on the promises her messengers have made and all we need is to reach it.

Our people traveled in-between our warriors in 18 long lines as we took the rivers and bent then to where we needed to them to be.

We continued to swim forwards until good news finally reached us.

"We're going downstream!" My wife told me, and her words were mirrored by the other Tide Callers.

Our people cheered in song as Eldar died in our wake and they kept trying to target us but our joy was short lived.

"Ships." My wife said mournfully.

I could see them myself strafing to our sides and knew what this meant. The laser and prism weapons had been the deadliest weapons we had to face and once again they would scythe through us and they once again targeted us.

" 'Mighty Blow' I leave the leadership to you, select your second." I sang to him.

We had developed a strategy to deal with them after the first wave of vehicles came and killed so many of us.

Warriors would gather into group of 10 for each vessel and swarm them to take them down with us and I had survived 3 such assaults, but I knew it deep in my soul this would be my last. The ships started opening fire and Sirens died in each volley. I had to take the leadership and sacrifice myself if needed be, for that is what leaders are meant to do and why they are our leaders.

Me and my warriors charged them and they switched target from the civilians to us.

I died before I could see if our charge succeeded.

'I'm sorry my beloved.' Were my last thought of this life.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Their rampage goes better than anticipated, but the clans and cults have started to organize proper responses and the Sirens become increasingly destructive." Marsa replied.

"How many do we estimate will survive in total?" I asked.

Better than anticipated could mean a lot, for we did not expect that more than 10 million will join us or survive the trip.

"From the 17 million sirens that lived before we reached this world we estimate 15 million will remain and 8 and a half million of them are already here." Guraith continued.

My eyes squinted at it, that sounded too much like good news.

"Why so many of them? Is there something we missed?" I asked.

I liked hearing that, but I needed to know why was this happening for we expected 10 million to survive and we considered that optimistic.

"The Sirens work together and do so a lot more than expected. Clans and tribes migrate together and those that came first will leave with holo-fields to help others unprompted. We did not expect this but are now encouraging it and making more holo-fields to help them. The cults and clans have also started targeting them." Marsa finished.

I did not like the last part at all, for it meant the Eldar started to think, and a thinking Eldar is much more dangerous than a retarded one.

"Is our cloud attack plan still viable? Organized responses and increased devastation from the Sirens means the eldar have started thinking again, and if they do they'll remember that the clouds are made out of water." I said with a grimace.

The cloud and aquifer plans are the faster way to destroy the local Eldar civilization. We had other plans such as detonating the southern glaciers fully and using some fault lines to sink part of the landmasses to make their slide faster, but they took longer and were less thorough.

"Yes, they have not looked to the sky or done anything to the clouds, we think they assume the sirens can't fly that high." Aesan sang with mirth.

We laughed at that. We will repay their arrogance generously, for Hoeth and his followers are very generous and repay kindness and arrogance with equal fervor